Battery compartments for retaining one or more batteries within an electrical device and electrically connecting the batteries to the device are well known. Battery compartments typically utilize a cover plate which must be completely detached from the electrical device before a battery can be inserted within or removed from the compartment. Detachable cover plates are subject to becoming lost during battery replacement or during use of the electrical device should the cover plate open unintentionally.
Many electrical devices utilize nine volt batteries wherein both the positive and negative terminals are fixed to one end of the battery. Such electrical devices typically utilize only a single nine volt battery, and thus it is not uncommon for these devices to require frequent battery changes. Nine volt batteries are typically connected to electrical devices via a small connector cap which contains the electrical contacts for both the positive and negative terminals. Fine lead wires fixed to the connector are typically used to complete the connection to the circuitry within the device. Thus, loading or replacing a nine volt battery within a typical battery compartment entails detaching the cover plate from the electrical device and removing the connector and wires from the compartment. Once the connector is manually placed over the battery terminals, the battery, the connector and the lead wires are loaded within the battery compartment and the cover plate is reattached to the device. However, fitting the connector over both terminals may frequently be difficult due to imprecise tolerances in the manufacture of both the connector and the batteries themselves. Furthermore, the fine lead wires between the connector and the circuitry are easily damaged and may fail under continued use of the electrical device. Thus, battery compartments for nine volt batteries currently suffer from a number of difficulties which are often compounded by frequent battery replacements.
It is with regard to this background information that the improvements available from the present invention have evolved.